Facebook Employees walkout from their job temporarily in order to extend their support to the protest.
The US has been thrown into chaos when George Floyd, a black American, got murdered as claimed by the protesters. This unfortunate incident happened when two police officers attempted to arrest him.
The officers claim that Floyd resisted the arrest. This made them restrain him. But things soon took a turn when Floyd died on the scene. The protests broke all around the country demanding justice.
Donald Trump, the president of the US, made a tweet that sounded more like a threat to the protestors. This article would explain more about the incident and how this connects to the Facebook employees walkout.
The Onset Of The Protest
Floyd choked when one of the police officers restrained him by placing his knee over Floyd’s neck. This inhumane act lasted for more than 8 minutes which eventually led him to death.
Since Floyd never resisted the arrest, we can only assume this as an act of Racism. What started as a small resistance in the city of Minnesota soon started getting the spotlight.
Black Americans have always been under a constant state of fear as the law has always supported white people. They state that this protest isn’t about gaining superiority but getting treated equally.
What Went Wrong?
What began as a peaceful protest, slowly started getting violent. In order to regain control over the situation, the government began dumping police officers all over the state.
Some residents used this situation to their advantage and started looting the stores nearby. This completely deviated the protest from its true motive and led to even more violence.
The police started arresting anyone they found suspicious. A lot of innocent black Americans got caught amidst the chaos and injured during the arrest.
Trump’s Tweet
Donald Trump posted a tweet which further seems to have aggravated the situation. He questioned the leadership capability of the respective Mayor.
He also threatens to call for the National Guard if the situation doesn’t seem to be in control. Trump regards the protesters as “Thugs” and adds that they are spoiling the memory of Floyd.
The tweet also mentions that the military stands with the governor and is ready to take action when called for. A threat has also been made that the looters will get shot if they don’t cooperate.
Why Did Facebook Employees Walk Out?
Although Zuckerberg says that he finds the tweet having a negative impact over society, he still chose to not take any action over it.
This has pushed a lot of employees working over at Facebook to question their leadership. Some employees gave open statements that they are no longer proud of working at Facebook.
Zuckerberg seems to have a brief phone call with the president. He states that the security policy of Facebook doesn’t involve categorizing posts based on the type of content.
The only action it can take is to remove them entirely. Zuckerberg says that he chose to not take any action because he wants people to see it for themselves.
He says that he believes everyone deserves to speak their mind and it doesn’t exclude politicians like Donald Trump. Several internal discussions seem to have taken place.
This led Facebook employees walkout from their roles to show their support to the protestors.
Conclusion
There were various complaints on Facebook that it has always failed its black employees. The executive committee seems to have a very low count of people who could represent them.
Unless there are executives who can understand the problems better there will always be a lack of good decisions.
Facebook says that it will be donating a huge amount ($10 million) to support racial groups who seek justice. But this again seems to be an insult. It only explains a lot about the company being incapable of taking direct actions.
